We may not care much for the word “taxes,” but we sure like the word “fair.”

If we must pay taxes, we at least want them to be fair. And in Texas, that’s less and less the case.

Property taxes are one of the most important sources of revenue in our state. And homeowners are getting stuck with much higher taxes than business property owners — those with high-dollar properties especially.

Everyone pays the same tax rate. It’s in the appraised value of the property that differences arise.

I hope you read my colleague Matthew Watkins’ story atop the front page of last Sunday’s newspaper. It wasn’t light reading, but it was an important look at how things have gotten out of kilter in Texas.

As an example, the story cited Williams Square in Las Colinas. You may know it as home to the famous mustangs sculpture.

The office complex sold to investors for $226 million in 2012. And you would think the new owners would be happy when the tax appraisal came in almost $16 million less than the sales price.

But no, the owners wanted an even lower taxable value. And when the Dallas Central Appraisal District wouldn’t bend, the new owners filed suit, knowing they could use a provision of Texas tax law to their advantage.

After more than a year of legal maneuvering, a judge cut the taxable value to $147 million — a 35 percent discount off the sale price.

The Williams Square owners used a provision of the state’s tax code written in 1997 at the behest of commercial property owners. Business property has carried a declining share of the property tax burden ever since.

My fellow homeowners, we all know who that “everybody else” is, don’t we?

When the law took effect in 1998, residential property owners were paying 42 percent of total property taxes. Now we’re paying more than 50 percent.

By one estimate, the state’s biggest buildings are taxed at only 60 percent of their actual market value. That’s a 40 percent discount.

Many are receiving their new property tax appraisals in the mail right now. Check yours and see if you are getting a 40 percent discount off your home’s market value. I’m going to bet not.

A movement is slowly building to rectify this situation. One awareness campaign is called Real Values for Texas (realvaluesfortexas.org).

“For us to get near a solution, the public has to be educated about what has happened,” said Mustafa Tameez of Houston, a spokesman for Real Values.

The problem was created in the Texas Legislature, and that’s the only place it can be fixed. But it won’t be easy.

These big-time commercial property owners win their lower tax valuations by hiring tax consultants and tax attorneys. They also have the money to hire the lobbyists and make the political donations necessary to squelch any reform.

Real Values for Texas calculates that below-market business appraisals have cost the state $4 billion in revenue over the last five years.

“At some point, you have to see this is a real problem,” Tameez said. “It’s affecting our schools. It’s affecting our municipalities. It’s affecting our ability to fund the basic needs of Texas.”

As Dallas County’s chief property appraiser, Nolan sees the issue a little differently. “It’s not about trying to get more money for local government,” he said. “It’s about trying the make the system fair. The way it’s supposed to be.”

There’s that word “fair” again. We like that.

Follow Steve Blow on Twitter at @DMNSteveBlow and on Facebook at facebook.com/DMNSteveBlow.